VIDEO: Rare white dolphin captured for controversial exhibit
Japanese animal advocates have captured footage of a rare white dolphin being taken from the wild in Japan, during the controversial Taiji dolphin hunt.
The white dolphin was the only animal spared from the massacre of a pod of 19 dolphins in the Taiji cove, which took place on Sunday (8 January 2023).
Campaigner Ren Yabuki, runs the advocacy group Life Investigation Agency, filmed the shocking incident and shared the drone footage with Yahoo News Australia. The video shows hunters singling out the rare white animal.
“Many people in Japan like white-coloured animals, so the hunters captured only this one,” Yabuki says.
Footage shows the animal being isolated from its pod and lifted into a boat, before being ushered into a shallow ocean pen. Yabuki says it has since been transported to the Taiji Whale Museum. Aquariums across Asia will likely now place bids for the animal, which will almost certainly spend its life in captivity from now on.
Meanwhile, the remaining 18 dolphins are seen being herded under a brown tarpaulin, before the water in the bay begins to turn red with blood just 15 minutes later.
Life Investigation Agency partners with US-based Dolphin Project to livestream dolphin hunts and advocate against captive dolphin shows.
Yabuki tells Yahoo he is “angry” and has fears for the survival of the rare striped dolphin, a species which is particularly difficult to keep in captivity and often die prematurely.
The annual dolphin hunt and slaughter at Taiji is a controversial ritual. While local hunters say they are honouring a tradition, critics argue that the captive animal market is driven by money rather than cultural heritage.
The Taiji drive hunts gained notoriety after the release of the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.
In 2019, Taiji-native Yabuki filed a lawsuit against the town, arguing that the annual dolphin drives should be outlawed and that dolphins should be protected as mammals, rather than being incorrectly classified as fish.
